Here's What You Need to Remember: Homeowners have been able to enroll in a mortgage forbearance program during the pandemic, which allows homeowners to postpone mortgage payments without getting late fees and other related consequences for not paying on time.

Homeowners across the country are still struggling to make mortgage payments on time and are experiencing “housing insecurity” due to the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, but some could get additional relief from the federal government to cover any unpaid debts.

The White House has set aside nearly $10 billion for the Homeowner Assistance Fund as part of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion rescue bill. The fund is sent to states, territories and tribes to offer assistance to homeowners who can’t make mortgage payments on time.

The Homeowner Assistance Fund can be used to help homeowners with housing-related payments like mortgage, property taxes, utilities, insurance and homeowners association dues.

State and local governments have the authority to distribute the relief to homeowners who are unable to make monthly payments or might be at risk of foreclosure, displacement or loss of electricity and water.

To qualify for the additional financial assistance, homeowners must own their own, have a mortgage balance less than $548,250, suffer a financial loss, like unemployment or decreased income and can provide documentation required by the state.

But the process to claim the relief isn’t uniform across the country. Instead, since the aid is distributed by state and local operatives, each state differs in its approach to homeowners claiming the relief.

Each homeowner should locate and contact the housing finance agency within their state to understand the steps to apply.

A recent survey, conducted by Credit Karma, found that the majority of homeowners enrolled in forbearance plans during the pandemic say that they wouldn’t be financially stable without being able to postpone their mortgage payments and are stressed for when payments have to resume. And 59 percent of homeowners in a forbearance program who participated in the same survey said that their financial comfort depended on being able to delay their mortgage payments. More than six in 10 respondents said that they felt stressed about the monthly mortgage payments they will have to make in the future.

Homeowners have been able to enroll in a mortgage forbearance program during the pandemic, which allows homeowners to postpone mortgage payments without getting late fees and other related consequences for not paying on time. The Biden administration has also offered a foreclosure moratorium, averting the worst possible consequence for a homeowner with missing payments. The moratorium blocks lenders from moving forward with foreclosure proceedings until June 30, 2021 at the earliest, offering struggling homeowners extra time to gather money together to make payments.

The White House also reported that one in five renters are behind on rent, while more than 10 million homeowners are struggling to make mortgage payments.

Rachel Bucchino is a reporter at the National Interest. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report and The Hill. This article first appeared earlier this year.

Image: Reuters.